Describes a teaching technique that can be used to open a discussion about suicide. The life events of a fictional individual are mapped on a timeline and examined with the class, after which the instructor informs the students that the person committed suicide at a young age. Student reaction is usually quite strong. (MDM)

Shares a participant-observer's close look at small group experiences in a course called "American Experience" taught at an urban university. Considers the issue of how race can be discussed in the classroom when even collaborative approaches with emphasis on student contributions can be undone by the power of the dominant discourse. (TB)

Offers a theoretical perspective on how and why different ways of talking about text can be so important for helping readers develop and for learning to read literature. Details a model of language use within the classroom and considers implications of the model for the instruction and assessment of language and literacy. (SR)

Considers the role of the "white ground" in English studies at a critical period, the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the discipline, along with the rest of the academy and country, struggled mightily with issues of race. Describes the author's interest in constructing a narrative about the relationships between discourse and identity…

Examines Listserv, a package for distributing email to a group of subscribers for the purpose of discussion. Notes the popularity of listservs among teachers and scholars in computers and composition. Suggests few users are aware of constraints the software places on the rhetorical situation. Explains how a Listserv is configured, decisions list…

Describes a two-part unit for middle school students that focuses on gesture. Students (1) create puppets using oak tag and brass fasteners, (2) trace the gesturing puppets into a drawing, and (3) decorate the puppets they originally created. (CMK)

Highlights an elementary school where teachers help children build good reading lives by teaching reading through literature circles. Discusses five essential strands of thinking that guide the teaching of reading through literature study: building community, reading literature, having choices in reading, participating in open and lively…

Explores the co-shaping of public and private discourse and some of the circumstances under which one occasions the other in the evolution of mathematical thinking by pairs of 13-year-olds. Provides evidence that adolescents within novel problem situations can experience some difficulty in making their emergent thinking available to partners in…

Through survey and focus group data, examined student discomfort in social work courses, reasons for self-censorship, and solutions to self-censorship. Found that general classroom factors (being too shy or being unprepared), not political correctness, were more likely to be reasons for self-censorship. Solutions focused on the faculty's role in…

Describes a personal analogy exercise used to experience metaphors and understand the ability to think metaphorically. States that students engage in an "I am" writing exercise where they select a portrait and write answers to such questions as "how are you like the portrait?" (CMK)

Explored in two studies disparities between how students with different degrees of extroversion and introversion engaged in small-group discussions requiring construction and critique of arguments. Found that extroverted students exhibited a greater tendency to use conflictual discourse, whereas introverted students worked with one another…

A synthesis of five studies that explored social climate issues in synchronous and asynchronous online courses found that teachers find it difficult to change their dominant role; students do not have enough interaction opportunities; teachers should support creation of a social climate; and students need training in new communication skills for…

Presents several strategies that have proven successful for community building in Web-based learning environments. Discusses challenges to community building in terms of space, time, and tools, and how to overcome these challenges. (EV)

Using the example of LaGuardia Community College in Long Island, New York, discusses how to use learning communities to promote inclusion and reflective examination on a range of diversity issues. Offers ground rules for class discussion of diversity and other classroom activities for fostering meaningful dialogue. (EV)

A binational management course used computer-mediated small-group discussions between students in the United States and Hungary. Individual and dyad (U.S.-Hungarian student pairs) case analyses were evaluated using an integrative complexity measure. Despite technical difficulties, students produced complex and comprehensive arguments after three…